


The Liar's Nightshade

by Awalk66



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awalk66/pseuds/Awalk66
Summary: Like his favorite flower, Gen knew he was a liar. He knew his skills lay in twisting the words and lives of others. His lies were all that he was ever good at. In comparison, Senku was truth. He was light. He was moving forward. So much so that Gen wanted to reach out and grab it. But he held back, refusing to taint the light with his darkness.
Relationships: Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 126





	The Liar's Nightshade

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first foray into anime fandom! I hope I do this justice! Please enjoy!

White. Fragile. Fragrant. Weak. Full of lies.

Gen spun the thin flower between his fingers, wondering if he was describing himself or the flower in front of him.

Like himself, the flower was just a beautiful package that hid deadly poison underneath.

Like himself, the flower was a one-trick pony, requiring someone to consume it for the trick to take effect.

Gen squished a single petal between his fingers watching the poison leak out. One taste is all it would take, one taste would be his downfall.

He sighed and flung the flower with its deadly beauty away and turned his eyes upward to the night sky. 

There were so many more stars than before or more accurately, he could see them better, ten billion percent better as Senku would say.

Senku.

Gen closed his eyes and smiled, his mind filling of images of the brilliant man who had long ago captured not only his full attention but his heart as well.

He had never met someone who was so effortlessly selfless. Senku always managed to meet everyone's needs and desires and make it seem like it was part of his plan all along. He remembered when building the cellphone. He had claimed he just needed coal ash but instead built heated huts for everyone in the village when he noticed how cold they were. These little acts, these side inventions, never passed Gen’s eye unaware. 

Gen knew Senku probably had the biggest heart out of them all. The complete opposite of Gen himself. If Gen had to guess his heart was probably a shriveled black thing that's sole focus was to keep beating so that he could live. 

In the past, everyone had wanted something from Gen. Wanted him to smile, pose for this picture, write this book, perform on this TV show. Every step photographed. Everything so fake, nothing but smoke and mirrors. 

His life was nothing but one meaningless task to another. Always doing everything asked of him in search of getting that response from the one person who ever mattered. His mother never cared though. She only saw him as a way to get money, even asked him to call her manager instead of mother at the end. Gen guessed she only saw him as a means to an end. His success was owed to her, he had to repay her for having the audacity of being born.

His mother was well on her way to becoming some famous celebrity when she got pregnant. She always told Gen how lucky she was that she didn't terminate right then and there and how now it was up to him to make it worth it. 

She was stone now. Gen didn't know where and honestly had no desire to find out. When he had woken up free from her, free from the pressures of being in the limelight, he thought he might be able to breathe again. 

Unfortunately, it was short-lived, his waking just proved to be for someone else's greed. He was needed again to do someone else's bidding and who was he to refuse. Go find out if this boy, Senku, was still alive. If he is, he would supposedly ruin everything.

Boy was Tsukasa wrong. Senku was the opposite of ruin. He was creation, life. He was freedom. 

Gen smiled as he reminisced their first meeting. How excited he had been that someone like Senku had known who he was. The one time where he may have thanked his mother for pushing him into the life of fame. Of course, he couldn't show Senku at the time. He had to figure this strange mad genius out. 

Would this be just another person who wanted something from him? Someone who would simply use his silver tongue and not care about the person behind him. Someone else who would just call him a snake and assume that Gen was an emotionless person. 

Gen shook his head and spread his fingers out amongst the blades of grass he sat on. No, Senku wasn't that person. Senku saw the best in everyone. He was pure. He saw people as power, knew humanity was capable of marvelous things and refused to acknowledge the darker side. His strong passionate belief in science and progression forward shaped his every movement and action.

Before Gen had known it, Senku had bewitched him whole, heart and mind. He would do anything to protect him. It would be his choice. Gen would freely choose to follow Senku. To support him in any way that he could. Even if that meant putting his own life in danger.

Senku had given his shriveled black heart a reason to beat, a reason to care if it continued to pump life through his body. He took that spear through his chest and for the first time he wished that he would live. He now had a purpose, he had to protect Senku. He had to protect his dream, his passion. He would ensure that Tsukasa would not get his hands on him. 

Of course, things never went his way. He could never do anything right. All he was good at was spinning lies anyway. Who would ever trust a liar?

Gen leaned his head back against the tree and sighed. 

“Oy, mentalist.”

That voice, his genius’s voice, Gen would recognize it anywhere. He adored the way that Senku always called him mentalist, instead of what he really was, a liar. 

“What brings you out here, Senku-chan?” Gen asked, tilting his head and patting the patch of grass next to him. 

The young genius took a seat beside him, his eyes as always looking above to the stars. 

“The same could be said of you,” Senku answered. “It’s well past midnight according to the moon’s position.”

“Can’t sleep,” Gen murmured. “The world’s so quiet.”

“Some would say that makes for a better sleep environment,” Senku answered. 

Gen’s eyes slid over Senku’s body. He let himself freely take in the boy beside him. He knew Senku’s eyes wouldn’t leave the night sky so he was free to take in the boy’s beautiful features. He was almost too beautiful in a way. The strange mix of green and blonde hair that stuck up could never work on anyone else, it was just pure Senku. Match that with the gorgeous lightning-shaped petrification marks and you had the most beautiful mad scientist the world had ever seen. 

“I’m not most people, dear Senku,” Gen finally answered. 

Senku turned his eyes to catch his. “Of that, I am keenly aware.”

Gen was glad for the poor lighting of the night sky, it hid the blush that was creeping up his cheeks. He knew Senku didn’t mean it in that manner. He never did. Senku only had eyes for science, he doubted that he ever looked at anything in a romantic fashion. He was selfless that way. Eyes only towards the future and the betterment of it for others. 

“What about you? You never answered my question?” Gen asked.

Senku looked down at his hands and slid them along the ground until the tips of his fingers knocked against Gen’s. 

“I finished the fermentation process for today and went back to the hut. You weren’t there, so I figured I’d come find you,” Senku answered. 

Senku had offered Gen to stay with him in his hut. It was the closest to the laboratory and the smallest. Senku hadn’t seemed to want it to be too big as he spent the majority of his day in the laboratory anyway. Gen was surprised when Senku had offered to split it with him. There was hardly room for one cot much less two. In fact the first night he had gone there, Senku had merely slid over and offered him the other side. 

That night Gen remembered trying to make himself as small as possible. Holding his breath, trying to pretend that he wasn’t less than three inches away from the man who made him question everything. 

Senku must have noticed though because the next day, Senku’s medium-sized cot was switched out with two smaller ones still near each other but clearly separate. Gen had to joke his way out of the disappointment that had filled him. 

“You could have just gone to sleep without me. You know we need your big brain fully functioning, dear Senku,” Gen answered, pulling his fingertips slowly away from Senku’s.

Senku’s fingertips chased his until they overlapped and his hand fully overtook Gen’s covering it. 

“And where would I be without my mentalist? I need him in top shape as well,” Senku answered gracing Gen with his signature cocky grin. 

That grin combined with the hand broke Gen. He looked away, “Why would you need a liar?”

“Gen,” Senku’s face scrunched in confusion.

“You know that’s the only thing I’m good at. Lying. Spinning tales. And now the one thing I’m good at, failed us. I couldn’t keep Hyoga away. That man is dangerous. I couldn’t do my part, Senku. You don’t need me.” The words broke out of Gen’s lips without his permission. His gaze glued to his feet. He hated voicing his vulnerability. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t this shaky person who was unsure of himself. He was Gen the mentalist. 

“Gen, you didn’t fail us. Hell, you saved us. Just because he saw through you doesn’t make you a failure,” Senku argued, grasping Gen’s hand tight in his. 

“He is out there right now, doing who knows what? And she’s watching. How can anyone sleep?” Gen muttered as he attempted to pull his hand free but Senku’s grip was strong. 

“No. This is poison. Stop. You cannot fixate on this. If you fixate on the mistakes you will never move forward.” Senku shook his head. 

“What if I don’t want to move forward? What if I was better left in the past? After all, I was only brought back for my lies. What if I should have stayed in stone?” Gen let it all out. Figured there was no point in holding back now. The reality he had been trying to hide from himself. That he was only brought back so he could lie and spy. 

“You are not a liar,” Senku shook his head. “Damn, Gen, I have never seen you be more wrong in my entire life. You, who can read people, can’t even see your own self-worth. Gen, I need you. You are my right-hand man. You are so much more than just a mentalist. Your intelligence is off the charts. You are one of the few who can keep up with me. I need that. I need you.”

Gen shook his head and grimaced. “Oh, my dear Senku chan needs me.”

“Of course I do. I need you. I may be a genius but you catch what I miss. You analyze people, you can see them for what they are. You see the heart of people. Can’t you see your importance?” Senku asked, leaning his head down in an attempt to catch Gen’s eyes. 

Gen shook his head. “Just another skill. Anyone can learn. I can teach anyone how to read people and then you won’t need me. Maybe I should get an apprentice like your Chrome. Teach them how to be a ‘mentalist’, pass it on and move on.”

“Gen!” Senku leaned over placing his hand on his shoulder and shaking it. “You are not a skill. You are a person, a person with intrinsic value to this operation.”

“To this operation or to you?” Gen asked. The question heavy on his tongue. He wasn’t sure he actually wanted to hear the answer. Wasn’t sure if he wanted to know Senku’s truth which he was sure without a doubt that it would be the operation. Everything to Senku was about progressing his Kingdom of Science. Everything. Gen knew what Senku’s answer would be. He knew what it would have to be. 

“To me,” Senku answered, his voice barely over a whisper.

“Figures. I knew you would choose the oper— what?” Gen’s voice faltered. That wasn’t the answer Senku was supposed to give. This wasn’t his selfless Senku. That wasn’t right. 

“You are valuable to me,” Senku repeated. 

“That’s not, that can’t be, that’s not right,” Gen argued. His mind was reeling. This wasn’t correct. His Senku didn’t operate like that. He didn’t look at people like that and if he did it would, of course, be Kohaku. It would never be him. 

“That is right,” Senku argued. 

“No, no, no,” Gen shook his head rapidly. This didn’t make sense.

“Gen— ,” Senku began.

“No!” Gen exclaimed, standing up his feet shaky and head feeling light-headed. 

Senku stood up and grabbed his arms, “Stop Gen.”

“No, Senku it doesn’t make—”

Senku’s lips crashed against his in an explosion of passion. Gen’s initial reaction was to push back and away but Senku held him close despite his limited strength. Eventually, Gen sank into Senku’s embrace, wrapping his arms around Senku’s back and returning the kiss. 

When they broke apart, Gen looked up at Senku, his eyes locked on his. Senku was looking at him like he was a miraculous experiment and was unsure of how the reaction was going to turn out. 

“Senku-chan,” Gen muttered lightly. 

“You are valuable to me,” Senku repeated once more.

“Oh,” Gen breathed.

“C’mon, being alone is poisoning your brain, let’s go get some sleep,” Senku mumbled as he slid his hands down, taking one of Gen’s hands in his own, tugging him along back to their hut. 

“But—,” Gen tried to talk. He wanted to talk. Wanted to wrap his brain around what just happened. Did that really just happen or was it just a dream?

“Shh, we’ll talk in the morning,” Senku answered, pulling open the door and climbing down into one of the cots. 

Gen nodded and climbed down into his, so close to Senku’s almost touching but not. His mind was buzzing. Senku had just kissed him. His Senku. Had kissed him. He had kissed him. The words just didn’t make sense. The thoughts didn’t make sense. What could Senku even see in him? Being with him didn’t make sense. They couldn’t move the society forward. That’s all Senku cared about right? 

But then, why? Why did he seem so fixated on making sure Gen heard him. Why did Senku keep repeating those words that he was valuable? 

Gen slid his eyes over to Senku’s sleeping form next to him. Was he really asleep? Probably not. But this act, this desire to wait until morning. Gen would respect it. Gen could wait. Gen would have to. After all, tomorrow was a new day. Hopefully a new day where more things would make sense. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you want to connect with me you can find me on twitter at [AWalk666](https://twitter.com/AWalk666) or on tumblr at [awalk666](https://awalk666.tumblr.com/). I love to talk! <3


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